


Ghost Town Resident

by Gayneral



Series: Ghost Town Series [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Angst, Butters is a cutie, Character Study, Coming of Age, Future Fic, Growing Up, Kenny is an amazing big brother, Kenny is the main focus of this Oneshot, M/M, Moving Out, Plans For The Future, Tags Are Hard, University, basically everyone goes away but Kenny is left behind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 04:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13516656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gayneral/pseuds/Gayneral
Summary: It's hard watching everyone move on with their lives when he's stuck in South Park forever.When everyone had been talking about Universities and all the great big plans in their future, Kenny had been wiping tables to make enough money so his family wouldn’t starve to death.





	Ghost Town Resident

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, can't believe it only took me two Months to write something after my last Oneshot  
> That's some big improvement on my part  
> Aaaanyway  
> I wrote this mainly because I really wanted to write something South Park and somehow writing about Kenny happened, which isn't anything bad because Kenny is amazing and deserves all the attention he can get  
> I'm still a bit unsure about this because I didn't know where to go with this while writing  
> This is slightly influenced by my own problems lmao
> 
> Whatever my reasoning for writing this is, I hope you enjoy it

When everyone had been talking about Universities and all the great big plans in their future, Kenny had been wiping tables to make enough money so his family wouldn’t starve to death.  
Maybe being forced to live in the present all of the time had been just what eventually had caused him to end up without a future.

By the time they had been eighteen it seemed like everyone’s plans were full in motion, like Kenny had missed the right moment to look up and notice that the future had just driven by in a car showing him it’s middle finger because he just hadn’t gotten in when it had been waiting for him with open doors.

Stan had been the first one to leave South Park, ten days after graduation, for a University that had accepted him back in spring, three hours from their hometown.  
Kyle followed after, in the old fashioned way it had always been, like a lovesick puppy, which was exactly what he was, even after nine years

They’ve probably started to make plans the earliest, all the way back in middle school, back when everyone was full of unrealistic dreams, but unlike most people, they had held on and were now attending University together once the semester started in October.  
It had been Stans choice where they were studying because he’d gotten a football scholarship offered by the Universities sports program.

Stan had told them during lunch, with Kyle at his side like an old housewife, already presenting how exactly everything would work out, that Stan had applied only for scholarships in Schools that offered Law courses as well.  
Kyle, one of the best students in their graduating class, and with enough money on his hands, had made it in easily.

A week before they had left, their conversations only content was their dorm rooms that they had looked at the weekend prior when their parents had taken them to the University.  
Originally Kyle and Stan had wanted to drive alone, with Kenny in tow but Kyles Mother had insisted on joining her son and a little later it had evolved into a family outing and there had been no more space for Kenny.

So instead he had to listen to all the:  
“Look at those pictures we took when we looked at it last weekend”  
“It’ll be so great to live together”  
“Look at us having our life planned while you ain’t got nothing Kenny” 

Of course they hadn’t actually said the last part but it sure as hell felt like that the more he had to hear their tales and see their pictures for the tenth time.

 

On the day of their departure they had met in front of Kyles house, where his mother argued with Ike, who didn’t get the point of wearing something presentable if they’d only drop off Kyle at the University.  
Kenny had smiled a lot, so much his cheeks had hurt, and they had taken a few selfies, Kenny had insisted on, that later up had ended up as his phone wallpaper.  
Smiling had been the only thing that helped to repress the tears that build up at the corners of his eyes, and the more he joked, the less tense his friends seemed to become.  
By the end they had been bubbling with excitement and while that had been Kennys ultimate goal, he didn’t want them to worry about him, it only made his stomach feel heavier.

As he watched them settle into the cars with their parents while he stood on the sidewalk, it was like the damn ending of a romance movie.  
When the couple has finally found each other, ready to pursue its future, and is walking into the sunset hand in hand.  
Of course this wasn’t exactly happy ending for them because Stan was the most oblivious Idiot and Kyle wouldn’t manage living in such a confined space with him for too long until he’d explode and (finally) confess to his best friend.

There were two possible outcomes of that confession, the happy ever after or the tragic fall of the Super Best Friends.  
Kenny wasn’t a spiteful person so he hoped it would be the damn happy fairytale ending, all with sunset and hand holding.

But staying behind, while everyone picked up on their future, made him feel like an old tattered stuffed animal, thrown into the basement while the kid plays with new, clean toys.  
Kenny stood by as Boxes were carried out of houses, while people waved University acceptance letters around and parents proudly dragged their kids into City Wok for celebration dinner.  
Why the hell someone would think City Wok would be a great place for celebration was beyond him.  
But waiting tables there made it impossible for him to miss how happy everyone seemed in the weeks after graduation.

Everything was so picture perfect around him that crossing the railway to his house was like stepping into a different dimension, like escaping wonderland for reality.  
His parents were high and shit ass drunk and there was half a can of ravioli left over and everything was so damn normal that it felt like a blessing.  
Like this fucked up home of his was the only place where time was frozen and everyone was the same, without a future.

He checked in on Karen, sleeping under two blankets, he’d let her have Kevins after he’d moved out, and mentally corrected himself.  
Karen had a future, bright and beautiful, the only clean spot on this stained old rag that was the McCormick family.  
She was one of those kids with the big plans, the sort of person that would hold onto it just like Stan and Kyle had.

Even if the opportunity to leave this town had been there, if he magically would have gotten a scholarship or if some rich ass would’ve come along and thrown the money at him, there was no way in the world he could leave Karen behind.  
He pretty much provided the entire family income with his two jobs.  
He was the sole source of food and warmth for his little sister and he’d give her support in any way to make sure she’d one day make it out of here.  
Karen could, with her grades, her smarts and ambition; she could become the McCormick to escape South Park.

As he thought about his sister, those feelings of hopelessness vanished because maybe his Future was providing a Future for Karen.  
In those moments that was quite a satisfying Idea.

Cartman didn’t leave South Park for another three months despite being accepted at a University.  
Kenny would’ve bet his last two dollars that the only reason he was still here was because Cartman wanted to take a use of his mother being at his every beck and call for a little longer.  
He was inclined to ask if Cartman had made sure his University was close to a KFC for delivery because he couldn’t imagine him cooking his own food.  
Not that he wasn’t able to, that Idiot made a mad Burger and his Lasagna was out of this world, but the years hadn’t changed that he liked to have everything served to him.

Maybe his poor roommate would become Cartmans new slave.

How he got into University in the first place was beyond Kenny but he really did not care the least who Liane Cartman fucked to get her son accepted.

The fact that he fatass was still in town meant hanging out with him at Starks Pond a lot to get high or drunk, or both on especially shitty days.  
Eric wasn’t the best company, not only because he generally was a terrible person, but because he couldn’t stop bragging about the exquisite School he’d soon attend and how much money he’d make once he had gotten his diploma.

He didn’t stop at rubbing it into Kennys face and repeatedly teasing him with questions such as  
“You’re still cleaning tables at Shitty Wok? Hahah you’ll never make it out of South Park”  
“Didn’t get into a University? No surprise, you’re too fucking poor “  
“I bet your family would just die if you’d leave anyway”

It took Kenny all his willpower to keep himself from beating Cartman up regularly.

There had been one evening, Kenny was sure Cartman had been shit faced drunk, two days before he left, that Cartman suddenly slung an arm around him and, after burping into his face with breath smelling like a distillery and cheap hotdogs, had said  
“I’m gonna miss you Kenny”

Washed over by sentimentality and actually touched by the others words, Kenny had laid his arm around Cartman as well, staring at the campfire between them and had thought about how empty this place would be without Eric.

Still, when Cartman had gotten into the Car he had shouted “See you in three years on White Trash In trouble”, as his mother had pulled out of the driveway and Kenny had buried his fists deeper in the pockets of his parka to stop himself from chasing after the vehicle just to beat up Cartman one last time.

His steps had felt even heavier on the way back home and he stopped at the train tracks to sit down in the snow and lit himself a cigarette.  
The smoke hadn’t turned the world a better place but for the few minutes it took until it was a gleaming stump in the dirt he had been able to forget about his hopeless situation.

Around the time that Cartman had left South Park, so had Wendy, who had hugged him tight when they left, with the promise to return for Winter break.  
Over the years they had gotten closer and so saying goodbye to them had almost been enough to make him tear up again.

By the end of the year the only people remaining from what had once been their fourth grade class were Tweek, who’d been working in his parents shop for years now but would leave in summer to study acting, Clyde and Butters.  
Clyde had wanted to attend University as well but his Father had gotten sick and so Clyde had delayed his departure to help out with the family business.  
The Weeks he originally wanted to stay turned into months and Clyde talked less and less about University until he started referring to the Shoe Shop as “his baby”  
Butters parents, while getting him into an University they deemed fitting, expected him to still live at home, not letting him out of their view just yet.

Kenny had tried to convince Butters to just leave so often all through high school and in the month after their graduation but Butters had always shaken his head, too frightened of his Father.  
“I’m not sure what they’d do to me if I’d say I want to move away”, he said, voice so timid that Kenny had the immediate instinct to wrap him into a blanket and carry him into safety.  
From then on every time Kenny walked past the Stotch house he glared at it, the wish to drag Butters out of it bubbling in his stomach like lava, threatening to burn him up from the inside.  
Butters had the grades and dreams to make it to something great but of course his fucked up Parents didn’t give him the chance.

It was unfair that the one person this town hadn’t stripped off all sunshine and hope were to stay for all eternity.

Almost everyone had retuned for Winter break, even those that studied very far away, like Token and Wendy all the way from New York and Jimmy from L.A.  
The reunion party was planned for New Year’s Eve and held at Starks Pond.  
It was overflowing with alcohol that they technically should not have been able to buy yet, and firecrackers that looked too dangerous to be shot in a 500 meter radius to any living thing.  
Of course they had lit them anyways and one had almost hit Kyle on the head but had barely missed and everyone was damn relieved they did not have to face the wrath of Sheila Broflovski.

Everyone had been so fucking cheery and there had been no escape from endless stories about Lectures so boring they’d fallen asleep in it or tales of how huge Campus’ were in comparison to their High School.  
Not even getting drunk had made it any better, the jealousy that held his heart in a deadly grip.

Kenny hated that feeling because there was nothing he wanted more than to be fully supportive and proud of his friends but the nasty little beast called envy made itself a home inside of him so deep inside that even smoke couldn’t burn it out.  
Watching everyone settled satisfied made Kenny feel hopeless again.

There always had this part of him that had known he’d end up staying in South Park with nothing to show and no matter how hard he had worked, it had become the truth.  
Now he was doomed to be stuck while everyone else was moving past him at light speed.  
At age 40 he’d still work for a loan below minimum wage at City Wok and his diet would be entirely made up on terrible noodles.  
He’d have a steady supply of food this way at least.

He had nothing, no plans, no future, just an empty town and blank spaces on benches where his friends had once sat.  
Sometimes Butters found him out there and settled down by his side, always declining the cigarette Kenny held out to him, always a silent support.  
The two souls left in this ghost town.  
Two boys chained to a place that held nothing but faint memories and nightmares anymore.

“Where would you go, if you could be anywhere?” Butters had asked him once, breath forming little clouds in the cold air  
“I’d go somewhere warm, like Hawaii”  
The smile on Butters face had been so dreamy it was like the sun had broken through the dark night, illuminating the short boy and making Kennys heart flutter.  
He’d turned his head to face the lake in front of them that was almost completely swallowed up by darkness, suddenly feeling a million years old.

“I can’t go anywhere. No matter what, I’ll always end up here”  
Maybe he’d sounded as sad and hopeless as he felt because Butters had taken his hand, tiny, warm palms closing around his fingers and had said: “Then I’ll make sure to stay here with you Ken, so you’re not too alone”

Kenny could’ve sworn he’d broken down to tears at that moment.  
If that had been the case Butters had held him and muttered sweet nothings in the voice of an Angel.  
If it hadn’t he’d bitten his lip until he tasted blood and hoped the night wouldn’t end too soon.

The nights always ended though and gave away to another day that he woke up in the same bed he had when he was 10 years old, that was too short for him by now.  
Another day that he spent working, the exact same tasks he had done the last day and the day before.  
Sometimes, while mopping the floor in the restaurant, he dared to dream, Butters question echoing in his head.  
He tried to think of him at a University but he had no idea what his dream self could study.  
Didn’t have a clue what city he would leave to, how his flat could look like because the only thing he knew was the run down room in his parents’ house and the monotone work at City Wok or Skeeters Bar on the Weekends.

Like the circle of dying and returning, it seemed like his life was stuck in a constant rerun as well.  
Doomed to repeat and repeat.

With the Semester starting again he saw Butters less and less and so he spend free time at the mall, pestering Clyde when he wasn’t showing the perfect trekking shoes or the best pumps to a red dress to customers.  
Clyde didn’t seem to mind though, always ready to joke with him, and keeping him up to date about the status of the members of what used to be ‘Craig and those guys’.

No matter how hard Kenny tried to outrun everyone’s happy ever after, it always came back around to taunt him.  
He was beyond fed up by it.  
He was done letting that jealousy drag him down, he decided one day as he stood by Starks Pond, staring at his phone.  
A message had just arrived, informing him that Stan, who turned out to be an extreme show off when it came to his boyfriend, had just taken Kyle out for Dinner because the ginger student was quote “The best in his fucking class, can you believe it, dude my boyfriend is a-m-a-z-ing”

It was sweet, shit it was really sweet and it had caused Kenny to think about Butters and how well he was doing in University despite his parents not laying off him.  
That Butters, even with all that load on his shoulders, was still friendly and full of hope, ready to tackle the future as it came.  
If Kenny knew one thing, next to that his sister would surely achieve anything in life one day, it was that he wanted to be part of Butters future.  
And he’d decided that even if he was a fuck up, destined to stay in South Park forever, he’d be a damn proud fuck up.

Maybe his future wasn’t set in stone like everyone else’s had been, no plans, no big goals to work towards. But possibly that did not mean he had no future at all.  
Perhaps a future could be build, made out of a million tiny little wishes, placed together like a puzzle, not making sense at first but eventually, after time, ending up a perfect picture.

Maybe his future was a puzzle, and if it was he had to place the pieces he could already find, together, to start with something.

There was one important deed to be done  
Asking out Butters Stotch.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read this far, thank you very much  
> Big thanks to anyone leaving kudos  
> Have a great day <3
> 
> Huge thanks goes out to WrongDecision for beta reading ily dude


End file.
